The Herald-Sun is reporting that DA Hardin has requested that AG Roy Cooper open a criminal investigation into the conduct of Mike Nifong and perhaps others in the lacrosse case. Noelle Talley, Cooper's spokesperson, has confirmed the request, which applied to "anyone who acted "under the color of law enforcement"--possibly Nifong, police officers, Linwood Wilson, and (perhaps) Tara Levicy.
Nifong's one-day trip to jail on Friday, in short, could be a preview of things to come.
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59 comments:
KC, will you be available to sign books when you are on the Duke campus next week?
Wow. I am completely amazed. Wonder if that will include Precious too? Someday?
KC, Please add Judge Stephens to that list.
great news, if true. i have always felt it would be better for nc to handle this matter rather than sit there like a stump waiting on the feds to do the dirty work. since tara levicy worked at duke, isnt she covered by duke's settlement with the kids that were charged?
TO John @ 7:11PM--
KC mentioned that he and Stuart aren't responsible for scheduling booksignings.
I was just thinking today how wonderful it would have been if someone could have scheduled one at the Streets of Southpointe's B & N store.
It's in a great location outside with many restaurants....the Italian one nearby even has a sidewalk cafe area....usually filled with lots of people.
We all could have planned a really big celebration into the night...and just by being there with lots of people and lots of buzz, even the passersby could have participated.
We could have gotten someone to wear a cute sandwich board...strolling up and down the outside mall area with news of the booksigning. LIS!
If only there had been more time....and if KC's schedule had not been filled.
Oh, well. Seems things are progressing nicely as they are.
:>)
This may be designed to reduce the state's exposure to civil suits.
I hope this actually happens... I am sorely disappointed in the minimal justice that has happened to date.
Yippee
Give them what they refused to give the lacrosse team, a fair and scrupulous trial, and then the maximum sentence
KC~! from blog star to author star
you are a hero! You were awesome on GMA.
AG Cooper will agree to the investigation and it will conclude there was no conspiracy,just as Judge Smith ruled in Nifong's sentence of 1 day in jail.Nothing more than an attempt to head off a lawsuit against the state.More reason for the fed's to move in.
Is this a pre-emptive strike to try to avoid the Feds coming in and cleaning the Durm house?
Somehow, I think Hardin has some liability here.
Let's just hope this portends shoes falling. Many--and I mean many--shoes need to drop in Durham, and hard.
As I recall at the press conference Cooper did say that he was not ruling out criminal charges but was going to wait until after the Bar trial before making any decisions.
People have been talking about getting the Feds involved, but the N.C. A.G.'s office is the next logical agency to act. I have been wondering if Cooper would act or if someone would ask him to act, but did not expect that Hardin would make a referral. I hope the story is true; and State of N.C. takes the opportunity to clean up its own act.
Will this be a serious inquiry or is it just an attempt to keep the Feds out of the case?
Bell and Baker pulling Hardins strings to keep Federals out.Bull dust...bring in the feds and clean out the dirt in Durham's Political devients!
Another "Political" smoke screen to allow Durham to escape its responsibilities for the DPD criminal actions!
Welcome to Durham Chief Lopez, Stuff your luck !
From the perspective of those in Durham, having the NC AG investigate preempts having the Feds do it.
I'd call this the firebreak, attempt II.
Rather too much a coincidence that attorneys representing DE, CF, and RS had a scheduled meeting with Durham's attorney and city manager today.
Rather too much a coincidence that AG's office acknowledged today that interim DA Hardin had sent a request for AG/state investigation into DPD handling of case. (must assume this request was sent shortly after above attorneys contacted city of Durham re city violations, as Durham/AG are not known to react/respond promptly to queries - M.O. seems to be 'cover-up' - perhaps large, very large sums of $$ are involved.
Do not believe AG will 'accept' request for state investigation - after 4+ months, his office could easily determine that their obligations are over.
Interesting that Duke, Broadhead, Burness, Alleva, Moneta, BOT, Gang88 seem to have been given a 'pass'.
Will be glad to be proven wrong ..... however, it is now past time for HONEST federal intervention.
One can imagine malefactors like Himan, Wilson and others rushing to strike plea agreements to separate themselves from Nifong, Gottlieb, Addison, and the worst of the Durham PD.
This is Nifong's worst nightmare... the Durham City Council throwing the rats collectively down the drain to save some money for the taxpaying voters of Bull City.
This is an interesting development.
I am certainly not conversant in the law ... but I do see a potential conflict of interest. So I have a question:
To what extent can an investigation by a governmental authority into potential criminal conduct mitigate damages or exposure of that governmental authority? I ask this because, if I recall correctly, North Carolina has a (unique) system under which DA Mike Nifong was, in fact, somewhat under the jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina and not the local governmental entities. In other words, he was acting as an agent of the State and not the City.
Is that true????
If so, what effect would a state investigation have on Durham City/County liability?
And if not, would it potentially relieve Durham from liability by finding that Nifong et al acted outside the scope of their duties?
This is clearly a tangled web. Can someone please unravel?
Thanks!
9:02
What if DA Hardin's request for AG intervention is predicated on his obligations under state law and his independent finding of potential criminal activity? Perhaps he is exercising moral and ethical authority and ... God willing ... doing the right thing.
Could be.
James Conrad 7:44--Even if Tara was covered by Duke's settlement with the 3 lax players, that's a civil agreement. This inquiry would be a criminal matter. Completely different ball of wax, and Duke can't protect anyone from a criminal investigation.
Here's how it might have happened:
Durham City Attorney- So, Mr. Scheck and Mr. Sullivan, what's it going to take for the falsely accused men to be satisifed and not sue the city into bankruptcy?
Barry Scheck- The plaintiffs might be willing to accept a smaller settlement if those who harmed them were brought to justice through the actions of honest officials within the County and State governments.
Mayor Bell- Gimme a minute, let me call Jim Hardin.
Things just went from bad to worse for Mike Nifong.
Re: Tara Levicy -- the Duke settlement (if it applied to her) would only protect her from civil liability.....not criminal. False evidence? Conspirancy to wrongly convict? Bring it on!!
K.C., I love you, but you are only hoping that Tara gets prosecuted.
Considering that a criminal investigation could have a negative effect on Durham's insurance coverage, I wouldn't be surprised if Bob Ashley wrote another editorial opposing this review of the DPD.
My advice to Nifong: your previous attorneys just haven't worked out for you, so it may be time to call your good buddy Joseph Blount Cheshire V.
JLS says....,
First the real news to me is that Hardin must be under very heavy pressure to do this. I wonder if the rumors of the Feds stepping in is causing the Durhmite officials to get out in front of this to assure Mike a chance to plead out for little or no time?
As for who suffers a criminal investigation, I would guess the list in total is:
1. Nifong
2. Gottlieb
3. Wilson
Himan is off the hook for his work with AG and after. I still don't see what the nurse did but you guys can keep hoping.
KC,
Great job on GMA, I loved the fact that the G88 were called out on National TV.
Onto the criminal investigation, I can only hope it becomes a reality that either the NC AG (Cooper) or the Feds come in and do a criminal investigation. As you noted on TV, this was the one of the worst cases of prosecutorial misconduct ever seen. This did not happen without a lot of people wanting it to, and Mike Nifong is not the only guilty party.
The ADA's need to be investigated, Gottlieb, Himan, Linwood Wilson, The DPD leadership, Meehan, CGM, The Black Panthers (it is illegal to make death threats), and perhaps many more.
Civil suits need to proceed as well, people cannot be allowed to get away with that behavior, it is so contrary to a fair society.
Thank you for keeping the pressure up on all these bad guys, I can only hope this case has far reaching effects so that innocent people are protected...
BDay
I have stated on the record before that I believe a state criminal investigation would be appropriate. As I see it, the feds would have one clear area, and that would be fraudulent use of federal funds associated with the Violence Against Women Act that they used in this case.
We shall see what happens, but nonetheless it is illegal to write false reports (Gottlieb) and to strong-arm witnesses into changing their testimony (Wilson). No doubt, the Elmostafa case will get some attention, too.
There is one thing we have to remember, and that is that NONE of this would have been possible had it not been for the hard-left activist community in the Triangle area. Even now, the Indy Weekly is trying to get away with saying there was a rape, and that Cooper's report and investigation was a whitewash.
It is a shame that these lying activists who did so much damage will get off scot-free. Evil people.
9:18 Possible but not probable. No one in Durm moves that fast--Scheck et al only visited earlier today and the H-S already reported the possible criminal investigation.
I think Hardin's trying to distance himself, in advance, from the fallout.
9:18
Too bad Duke's settlement didn't include some (visible) terminations.
It would be a good thing if you're right.
Why have the Observer and WRAL not reported on this development? Hoax?
Inman said: "I ask this because, if I recall correctly, North Carolina has a (unique) system under which DA Mike Nifong was, in fact, somewhat under the jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina and not the local governmental entities. In other words, he was acting as an agent of the State and not the City.
Is that true????"
Yes. D.A.s are State, not county or city, employees. Therefore, if a D.A. does something that creates liability for his or her employer, the money comes from the State of North Carolina.
Ken Duke, Atty.
Durham
I was reading some rumors about a state investigation on the WRAL website. This is good news indeed, if it is true. Nail the wrongdoers to the wall. It is past time for this to occur. These lowlifes have to be forced into court and made to testify under oath.
"KC, will you be available to sign books when you are on the Duke campus next week?"
There will be a book signing after the talk, just outside Page Auditorium, and possibly one before.
Duke Prof
Only a lunatic would fail to see a connection between the timing of the arrival of the plantiffs death-squad and the call by Hardin for the State AGs involvement. I mean, why now, all of a sudden? Was today the moment, right out of the blue, when he realized that really bad things had been happening in Durham LE?
I do not have access to any local information but I can make long distance inferrences: There is no thought-out plan in Durham. They are reacting in desperate, reflexive spasms. If it were otherwise, this call by Hardin would have been made months ago while it would have actually helped the city of Dumbness.
Hmmmm .... just wondering, but where is the sense coming from that an investigation and prosecution by the Feds is the "end all/be all" to conclude all the injustices wrought by the various actors in the Durham Wonderland fiasco?
Is there faith that the aftermath of a feckless Gonzales Justice Department will have the wherewithal to right the wrongs with a prosecution? Is there faith that this Justice Department can bring about the "just result" that so many think is needed when the Elian Gonzales episode and the Waco massacre are its lagacies?
I'll cast my faith with a Roy Cooper investigation -- he's one who has at least shown a track record for doing the right thing thus far.
Has to be a farce since only Herald Sun is reporting on it!
I'm like a kid at Christmas over this. So much good stuff under the tree! now I just have to make myself wait until it's unwrapped... ;)
I'm seriously hoping that this investigation might identify whose idea the April 14 "sting" e-mail was. You know, the one that purported to be from a particular lacrosse player, announcing to his teammates that he was going to stop concealing the "crime" and was going to tell the police what he knew. This was presumably supposed to cause the "wall of silence" to crumble and the players to all frantically scramble to try and not be the last one offering to sell out. Too bad for whoever came up with the brilliant idea, you can't break down a "wall of silence" that doesn't exist. Hmmmmm, this gives me an idea -- perhaps all the Durham Police Department should get an e-mail from Linwood Wilson announcing that he's sick of covering up for corrupt cops and will tell the AG all he knows about the frame attempts? ;)
The insurance carrier presumably can't head off a criminal investigation, but this certainly runs counter to their interests.
I suspect that fairly soon, they are going to conclude that they are on the hook for $5M, less the $500k deductible, reguardless. At this point, it would probably make sense for them to just resign themselves to this and get out of the way, without adding legal bills for themselves to this total.
WRAL says: New DA could be appointed soon...
Perhaps there is some fear that book sales might add to pressure to bring things to some sort of resolution :).
WRAL is reporting that Gov. Easley will appoint a new Durham DA later this week-- no indication of who but possibly someone currently in the office (hopefull not Cline or Saacks).
exactly...laurels to the Herald Sun for breaking the story? I think NOT.
10:54
What fictional account of this HOAX have you been reading? To what fictional April 14 e-mail are you referring?
Gottlieb has already rolled on Levicy -- and, thats really bad for her.
inman -- I believe 10:54 is referring to the mystery email that went out from a lacrosse players duke mail ID to all the lax... saying the that player was going to the PD and tell the "truth". The source of that email has never been disclosed -- the lax player didn't send the email -- he was in class at the time.
"Even now, the Indy Weekly is trying to get away with saying there was a rape, and that Cooper's report and investigation was a whitewash."
bill anderson
Bill Whittle calls this kind of thing "seeing the unseen", while ignoring the clearly visable. It involves the kind of Conspiracy Theory which can't be disproved because its proponents simply won't let it be disproved - by the visable. But it likewise can't be proved, either, only posited as "true" by its author's fiat. So the Theory is literal nonsense: again, it can neither be proven nor disproven, so it really doesn't say anything at all, or at least anything possibly relating to reality - while it pretends to do just this by virtue of its linguistic form.
I think this belief in, and promulgation of, literal nonsense stems from either a form of dementia/hypomentia, regardless of cause, or propaganda motives of the worst, willful sort - the latter of which we seem to be seeing with increased frequency and intensity and which seem to be feeding, then utilizing the former. Sound familiar?
These Ages are still pretty Dark.
J.P.
Anonymous said...
Even if Tara was covered by Duke's settlement with the 3 lax players, that's a civil agreement. This inquiry would be a criminal matter. Completely different ball of wax, and Duke can't protect anyone from a criminal investigation.
But is Tara Levicy's behaviour actually criminal.
She certainly acted above her position. She also acted on the basis of ideology rather than truth. And her acts served to maintain the hoax.
But is it criminal or is it simply unprofessional.
I would hope at the least that her behaviour be seen as an indication that ideological feminists should not be allowed anywhere near these processes.
"TaterCon said...
Hmmmm .... just wondering, but where is the sense coming from that an investigation and prosecution by the Feds is the "end all/be all" to conclude all the injustices wrought by the various actors in the Durham Wonderland fiasco?"
They may be a ganf of corrupt morons, but unlike any North Carolina power they are at least a "separate" gang of corrupt morons, with no particular interest in helping the locals cover uop their corruption.
It's not that the Feds are a wonderful option, they just suck the least.
Anonymous 9/6/07 12:26 AM
said...
"Gottlieb has already rolled on Levicy -- and, thats really bad for her."
Hope she didn't get squished!
The Independent (Daily Worker) is a waste of perfectly good trees and ink. Of course they can see the unseen - they are not the most sober writers around. Nor the most well balanced. Nothing in that paper is creditable.
on 9/5 I called The Regulator, a local (Durham) bookstore about a possible appearance by KC. I was told that they had contacted the publisher about a possible appearance, but had received no response....
tm
This AM on Raleigh WPTF, Fox legal commentator Judge Napolitano insisted it was the STATE of NC which was going to get hit with the civil case, not City or County. He clearly indicated several times that it was the Governor and the AG who were responsible for reining in the rogue DA, police, judges, etc. and that State NC --or, more precisely, the Treasury of the State of NC was the one going to lose the big bucks. He felt the State would have to settle to prevent an all-out court case where the jurors would be very willing to award huge sums to the boys. I don't give him great creds, but I have never heard this viewpoint before. Was delightful, however, to hear him name Easley and Cooper as responsible for much of the damage.
To the Fellow Posters,
How about coming up with a list of crimes or breaches of responsibility committed by the Durham Police Department to help Hardin in his investigation? Off the top of my head, I came up with eight easy ones. I would love to see anyone else add to this list to find out how many offenses the DPD committed in helping Nifong perpetuate this crime.
I know this list is just a start, missing warrantless searches, false statements by Addison, and about everything Linwood Wilson touched. It would be interesting to see how many legitimate offenses the posters on this board can remember.
1. Photo line-up that broke written police procedures
2. Bribing Kim Roberts with a reduced bondsman’s fee to change her testimony
3. Destroying the recording of Kim Roberts’ 911 call from the night of the party
4. Legal harrassment of Moez Mostafa in an attempt to change his testimony
5. “Sting” email to lacrosse team falsely stating one member was going to admit to charges
6. Himan’s falsely written “straight-from-memory” notes
7. Failure to investigate:
a. Alibis of players
b. Background check of Crystal Mangum
c. Mangum’s claims of no sexual contact in previous week, even after DNA test results proved otherwise
d. Time stamped photos of evening
8. Linwood Wilson’s December interview attempting to fill in holes in Mangum’s changing story
Sincerely,
Jack Straw
Jack Straw @ 10:17
How about their failure to investigate the identity of the male DNA depositors in/on CMG?
"This AM on Raleigh WPTF, Fox legal commentator Judge Napolitano insisted it was the STATE of NC which was going to get hit with the civil case, not City or County. "
Napolitano may well have a point about the state having exposure alonside the city and county. If anything, the county appears to be in the best shape here - what known bad actors other than Linwood Wilson were on their payroll? And they can argue that although they paid Wilson they didn't really have any control over him or knowledge of his actions, and it's all Nifong's fault.) On the downside states have all sorts of legal immunity compared to cities and counties, and it can be very difficult to get states to actually *pay* judgements against them.
But he's definitely wrong in his implicit assumption that they can't all three get sued, sometimes as codefendants, other times for separate and unique causes of action.
Crystal needs to be punished for what she started. She is as bad as Nifong and can not hide behind her act of I'm a crazy b. The pain she has caused, the money lawsuits are and will be paying out are tremendous. If I was a NC resident I would demand she be brought up on criminal charges. Your tax payer dollars are going out the window due to her actions. Your schools, roads, and social services will lack tens of millions NC and Durham will have to pay because of one person....Crystal...and she is still pole dancing, doing drugs and have a grand ole southern time at your expense. Go figure.
Please don't forget the DPD breaking into a students room without a warrant and sending an email from his computer pretending to be him. I beleive that alone warrants a criminal investigation. The DPD are trying to plant phoney evidence. And the real evidence, the tape recordings of the 911 call they, "mistakenly erase." Hmmmm. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see major corruption here.
I have a question for 1:00 above, one which has been nagging me for a long time. I think I distinctly recall hearing the 911 tape from the Kroger parking lot, from the arriving officer, saying Precious was "dead drunk," or something like that. Those tapes were broadcast over and over on news stations in the early days, even if only here in Raleigh. So even if the criminals at DPD erased them (which was undoubtedly deliberate as you say) don't some news stations have them archived?
if they are innocent, then they wont need lawyers in any of these possible investigations...right?
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